William f



(No Model.)

W. F. BROOK.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING CLOTH.

No. 413,019. v Patented Oct. 15, 1889.

WITNESSES:

N PETERS. flmmillhugmph'n Wilshlnglnlh D. C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM F. BROOK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO TETLOWV & BROADFIELD, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING CLOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 413,019, dated October 15, 1889.

Application filed AprilZO, 1887. Serial No) 235,505. (No model.)

T0 to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. BROOK, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Folding Cloth and other Fabrics, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for folding cloth; and it consists in a novel form of apparatus for this purpose. It will be fully described in the following specification, and the features which I consider novel with me will be particularly pointed out in the claims which follow this specification.

Figurelis a side elevation of my improved cloth-folding machine. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

Referring now to the drawings, A represents the frame of the machine, in which is journaled' the shaft (1, having mounted thereon at one end the pulley B, which is connected to the driving-power. On the shaft 0 is a pinion c, gearing with a pinion c on a shaft C and meshing with a pinion on the shaft 0 whereby motion is communicated from the said shaft 0 to the cross-shafts 0 G which are parallel with the shaft 0. The shaft 0 serves to drive the rolls of the clothfeeding carriage and the shaft 0 of the carriage, as will be hereinafter explained.

Fis a shaft journaled in supports affixed to the side of the frame and having at its lefthand end the bevel gear-wheels E E, which mesh with a similar bevel-wheel D on the shaft 0 above referred to. These bevelwheels E E are affixed each to a loose sleeve E so as to normally run freely on the shaft F without giving to it any rotation.

D is a sliding clutch member splined on shaft F, and provided with a pivoted handle H, having fixed hearings on a shifting-rod M, adapted to throw the clutch member D intoeonnection, as desired, with either cogwheel for changing the direction of motion of the shaft in a manner well understood, the clutch member being provided with ratchetteeth on the opposite sides thereof, as shown.

At the right-hand end of shaft F is located a bevel-gear G, which meshes with a similar bevel H on a cross-shaft 0 parallel to shaft 0. These two pieces of shafting have pulleys I 1, around which passes a chain belt K, connected to a carriage Nat a point L, as shown. This carriage N is supported on rails R R by wheels 0 O 0 O and carries the cloth guiding and folding rolls R R R R the latter located at the lowerends of arms S, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

M is an extended bearing attached to the car and adapted to slide on the rod M and be brought alternately into contact with shifting-blocks a a, affixed to the sliding shift-ing rod M, and having buffer-springs b'b, as shown. This constitutes all of the mechan ism for driving the carriage.

I will now describe the cloth-feeding portion of the machine: On the rear or outer end of the shaft 0 is located a bevel gear-wheel 10 which meshes with a similar wheel 10 splined on the feathered shaft F which latter is journaled to the frame A at D D and has a feathered bevel-pinion w, with a hearing fixed to the car N w is a bevel-pinion on the lower roll R and meshing with to. These pinions give motion to the feed-rolls R and also to the lower feed-roll R through the agency of a belt B R R R R R R R R are cloth guiding and feeding rolls, and B is a belt for driving R Having thus described the essential parts of my improved cloth-folding machine, I will now describe its mode of operation.

The cloth to be folded is located on a shaft (not shown) to the left of the roller R, and is passed over R, under R, thence to roller R", driven by belt B, under roller R to roller R between the feed-rolls R R and finally down to the last rolls R R whence it is fed to the table or place upon which it is desired to fold it. When the machine is started, by giving to pulley B motion in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, and the lever H is so set as to unite the clutch member D to the adjacent clutch member of the left-hand bevel-wheel E, the cloth is fed forward and the carriage Nis caused, through the agency of shafting F and O and the bevel-gears G and H, to be carried to the right until the bearing M sliding on rod M, strikes the buffer-spring b and stop a, and thereby drives said rod to the right, so as to shift the lever H and cause the clutch member D to change its position, thus shifting it from the left-hand clutch member to that upon the right, so as to unite it with the other bevel-gear and reverse the motion. The carriage now moves to the left until the sliding bearing M comes into contact with the left-hand buffer-spring b and stop or, and again reverses the direction of the shaft F. It will be seen that this'oscillating motion causes the chain belt to change the direction successively, so as to reverse the direction of the carriage and carry the cloth C back and forth, so that it is laid in folds, as shown at z .2, Fig. 1. The cloth is constantly fed forward by the action of the rollers R R R R and R the said rollers R R and R be= ing actuated by the pulley B on the drivingshaft, which latter, through its pinion c, meshing with the pinion o of the shaft 0 causes the bevel-wheel w to operate the bevel-wheel 10 and thereby the shaft F and bevel-Wheels w and w, and consequently the rollers R and, by means of the belt E the rollers R and R The rollers R R are operated by means of the belt B,connecting the roller R and a pulley on the shaft C ,Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is--- 1. A cloth-folding device having a carriage with feed-rollers thereon, feeding-rollers independent of said carriage feed-rollers, a driving-shaft, mechanism, substantially as described, connected to said driving-shaft, and consisting of shafts, a belt, and pinions, for operating the feed-rollers on said carriage, and mechanism, substantially as described, consisting of belts and pulleys connected to the driving-shaft for operating said independent rollers, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A cloth-folding machine having a driving-shaft, a shaft connected to said drivingshaft by intermediate gearing and having a bevel-wheel thereon, a counter-shaft with a clutch member splined thereon, and sleeves with bevel-wheels loosely mounted thereon,a tripping mechanism for said member,the shaft 0 having a bevel wheel meshing with a fixed bevel-wheel on the counter-shaft, pulleys on the firstmentioned shaft and the shaft 0, a chain on said pulleys, and a carriage connected to said chain and provided with feed-rolls, said parts being combined substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a cloth-folding machine, a carriage with feeding-rollers thereon, in combination with rollers independent of said carriage feedingrollers, a driving-shaft, mechanism, substantially as described, connected to the said driving-shaft for operating said carriage feed-rollers and said independent rollers, a belt or chain for moving said carriage, shaft-' ing for imparting motion to said belt, and

shifting devices for changing the direction of the movements of said belt or chain at the end of the folds,substantially as described.

4. In a cloth-folding machine, a series of feed-rollers with a driving-shaft, gearing, and belt, for giving to the cloth a constant feed,a carriage with 'cloth guiding and feeding rollers and an extended bearing thereon, mechanism, substantially as described, connected with the shaft of one of said rollers for rotating the same, and a belt connecting said roller with one of the other rollers, a shaft parallel with the driving-shaft and connected therewith by gearing and carrying the bevel wheel D, a shaft having a chain-connection with the carriage and carrying a bevel-wheel, a shaft having on one end a bevel-wheel gearing with the last previously-mentioned bevel-wheel and on the other end two loose cog-wheels, a clutch member splined on said last mentioned shaft between said loose wheels, a sliding rod with blocks thereon, and a pivoted handle having fixed bearings on said sliding rod and carrying the intermediate clutch member, said parts being combined substantially as described.

5. In a cloth folding machine, the frame A, in combination with the shaft C, having driving-pulley B thereon, the cross-shaft 0 having a pinion meshing with a pinion on the shaft 0, and a bevel-wheel 10 thereon, the shaft F, operated by the shaft 0 and having the bevel-wheel 10 and the feathered bevel-wheel w, the carriage N, having a bearing for said wheel w, the roller R having wheel 20, gearing with bevel-gear w, and arms S, having rollers R R and the belt B substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a cloth-folding machine, the frame A, in combination with shaft 0, with drivingpulley B thereon, the shafts C and G with connecting-gearing, the bevel-wheel D on shaft 0 the shaft F, with loose bevel-gearing E E and clutch member D, and fast bevel-gear G, the shaft 0, with bevel-wheel II, the pulleys I I on shafts O and C, respectively, the chain K, and the carriage N, secured to said chain, substantially as described.

7. In a cloth-folding machine, the frame A, in combination with the driving-shaft O,

having pinion c, the shaft 0 having pinion c, and shaft 0 operated by the shaft 0, the bevel-wheel D on said shaft C the shaft F, with bevel -wheels E E, loosely mounted thereon, and the fixedbevel-Wheel G thereon, the shaft 0, with bevel-wheel H, meshing with bevel-wheel G, pulleys I I on shafts C and C, respectively, the chain K, and carriage N, secured thereto, the bearing M the rod M, having spring-buffers Z7 Z2 and stops a a, and the clutch member D',with handle, substantially as described.

\VM. F. BROOK. IVitnesses:

JOHN A. WIEDERsHEIM, A. P. GRANT. 

